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The wily DIY Cable Makers Resource Guide
[Italian version]
The most Questions I got after the Interconnect Articles appeared where:
Where do I buy all this Cable-Stuff?
Okay. I do almost all my Electronic Shopping at the Maplin Shop in Wood Green.
Them Guy's nowadays keep a bit stock of my favorite tidbits. Ask
for Nick, he knows his way around there like no-one else.
But what if you don't live in North London?
Okay, you can order from Maplin
from all over the World,
even via e-mail or on the Internet. But you must know the Stock-Number.
The only way to get the Stock-Number is to have a Catalog. The
Catalog costs money and there is the end of the line for most
people. Too much hassle. They promise a full on-line Catalog soon.
A Company which has full on-line shopping and catalog already
is RS-Components. But they
deal mostly with trade-customers and do not necessarily ship outside
Europe.
So here I include all the Stock-numbers for the Stuff I use for
both Maplin Electronics
and RS-Components where applicable.
This guide covers both Speaker-Cable and Interconnect-Cable Materials.
The Prices shown are indicative only (they are correct as per
the catalogs on my Desk) and are in UK Pound including VAT (Viciously
Added Tax).
With any new Project I will try to ensure the materials used are
included in the Guide.
Speaker-Cable:
The best cheap Speaker-Cable - Category 5 (or better) LAN-Cable
when used as at least two Cables twisted together per run. All
conductors in each of the two cables are connected together to
form hot and cold.
My recommendation is the Maplin
Stuff in fetching purple color with a LSZH Sheath:
- Stock-No: VB20W
- Page: 208
- Description: UPT 1m Solid LSZH
- Cost: 0.49 UK Pound/m
Also good is the more ordinary stuff:
- Stock-No: VB24B
- Page: 208
- Description: UPT 1m Solid
- Cost: 0.39 UK Pound/m
or from RS-Components a "duplex"
Cable which has a Figure-8 style with two length together already
but only is available in Bulk (305m):
- Stock-No: 252-2136
- Description: 1 Reel (305m)
- Cost: 185.14 UK Pound/reel
A very alternative Cable (which I personally would never use
- included for completeness only) is PTFE Insulated silver-plated
stranded Copper in 12 Gauge (twist two length together tightly
per Speaker-Cable) from RS
only
- Stock-No: 358-179
- Description: 1 Reel (25m) 19/0.45mm PTFE to BS2G210 Type C
Cable
- Cost: 41.67 UK Pound/reel
The best Cable for internal wiring inside Speakers or Poweramp's
in my opinion is twisted together wire-wrap wire. I use four or
seven individual Wires twisted together and twisted again together
in Groups of four or seven to get suitable Current Capacity. The
7 X 4 Cable is about 15.5 Gauge while the 7 X 7 Cable is about
12.5 Gauge. Practicality dictates to use such Cable only for short
Distances. I also use this wire for my X-1.5 and 3.0 Interconnects
and
Here is the Maplin stuff:
- Stock-No: BL77J
- Page: 198
- Description: Wire-Wrap Black - 25m
- Cost: 2.99 UK Pound
Or:
- Stock-No: BL82D
- Page: 198
- Description: Wire-Wrap Red - 25m
- Cost: 2.99 UK Pound
Or:
- Stock-No: BL83E
- Page: 198
- Description: Wire-Wrap White - 25m
- Cost: 2.99 UK Pound
The best Cable for longer runs is based on a Satellite TV-Coax
Cable. This is the basic Cable for my "UBYTE-2" Speaker-Cable.
It is also used in my "UBYTE-I" Interconnect Cable.
Here is the Maplin stuff:
- Stock-No: XS17T (do not use the black XS16S - this is unsuitable
for the UBYTE Cable Family)
- Page: 210
- Description: Sat Coax Cable White
- Cost: 0.90 UK Pound/m
Or:
- Stock-No: PB43W (do not use the black XS16S - this is unsuitable
for the UBYTE Cable Family)
- Page: 210
- Description: 100m Sat Coax White (100m Reel)
- Cost: 44.99 UK Pound
Or from RS-Components:
- Stock-No: 388-782
- Description: CT100 Coaxial Satellite Cable - 100m Reel
- Cost: 49.90 UK Pound/Reel
My favorite RCA Plugs are only available from Maplin.
I tend to use them in the two different Colours to denote the
different Channels with the cheesy stick on foils in black/red
removed. These Plugs are PTFE insulated and they look really cool.
They are sold in pairs:
- Stock-No: AQ57M
- Page: 353
- Description: Silv Red + Black Phon Pk
- Cost: 4.99 UK Pound
Or:
- Stock-No: AQ56L
- Page: 353
- Description: Blu Red + Black Phon Pk
- Cost: 4.99 UK Pound
Maplin also sells the
professional Neutrik Phono-Plugs, but they don't sound any better
but are way more expensive. For professional Impression they are
hard to beat however. Sold as Pairs marked Black/Red:
- Stock-No: CC71N
- Page: 353
- Description: Phono Plug Blk & Red
- Cost: 10.99 UK Pound
And if you want to replace the cheesy RCA Sockets on your
CD-Player, Preamp, Poweramp or Integrated with some Quality PTFE
insulated Sockets, try these (I have seen identical looking Items
on the back of really expensive gear). They have a Black or Red
identification Band and come with PTFE Washers for insulated mounting
on the Chassis:
- Stock-No: JZ05F
- Page: 354
- Description: Gld Ch Phono Skt Blk
- Cost: 1.99 UK Pound
Or:
- Stock-No: JZ06G
- Page: 354
- Description: Gld Ch Phono Skt Red
- Cost: 1.99 UK Pound
Polyolefin heatshrink as used for the UBYTE Cables. Supplied
as meters or in 5m length by Maplin.
the longest length in one piece Maplin does is 10m. You need the
6.4mm Stuff to re-insulate individual FT100/CT100 Cables after
stripping of the PVC Sheath and the Braid. The 12.7mm Stuff can
be used to combine two re-insulated cables for the Speaker-cable.:
- Stock-No: GD57M
- Page: 221
- Description: H/Shrink 6.4 Red (1m)
- Cost: 1.66 UK Pound /m
Or:
- Stock-No: GD64U
- Page: 221
- Description: H/Shrink 12.7 Red (1m)
- Cost: 2.34 UK Pound /m
Or:
- Stock-No: GE76H
- Page: 221
- Description: H/Shrink 6.4 White (1m)
- Cost: 1.66 UK Pound /m
Or:
- Stock-No: GF00A
- Page: 221
- Description: H/Shrink 12.7 White (1m)
- Cost: 2.34 UK Pound /m
You can also get the stuff from the RS-Components Web-Site.
© Copyright 1998 Thorsten Loesch
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